He ran away marked with the orange spray. Yu called 911, and police were easily able to spot the orange man. She identified him as her thief.

Police held Andy Anduha, 51, on her citizen’s arrest before booking him into county jail on suspicion of attempted burglary.

Anduha is scheduled to be arraigned on one count of first-degree residential burglary, said Alex Bastian, a spokesman for the district attorney’s office.

He faces up to six years in state prison if convicted, and one strike against him under the state’s three-strikes law.

Police spokesman Sgt. Michael Andraychak said while police do not recommend that members of the public “take the law into their own hands” for safety’s sake, a citizen’s arrest is perfectly legal.

“We’d rather you call us — you never know who you’ll come up against,” he said. “But you have the right to make a private citizen’s arrest for crimes that are committed in your presence. You also have the right to protect yourself while trying to make that arrest, within reason.”

Yu noted that she suffered a burning sensation from the spray, but that she was happy knowing she helped catch the “menace.”